they did so with such intensity that they reached my heart.
They scorched it so deeply that, upon your departure,
only weeping embers remained.
The crystals of my soul shattered the valleys of my skin;
your love was dying in my heart,
while in the future, hope began to bloom.
ALTAR
Today I remember the altar where I left tears and disappointments;
in that space, I abandoned the bitter moments caused by you.
That altar where, despite my pain, I had to let you go.
My forced heart suffered for you; fragile and innocent, it yearned for you.
Blessed altar where I finally buried my memories and yours,
moments we once called “happiness.”
The joy I long for now dwells in a new temple,
where your shadow can no longer harm me.
After anointing myself with courage, I healed the scars of my soul.
My heart reacted, covering itself in hope;
and without remorse, it closed the door on you,
sending you, forever, to the altar of oblivion.
THE PATH
The paths become eternal beneath each step,
despite the thorny stones that bite the trail.
There are also beautiful flowers for which to be grateful.
Many times, the storms lash against us,
but the winds lull us, appeasing the pain;
and abruptly, our wings expand in search of the sun.
Perhaps we will lose our way a thousand times more,
at times, the march may even seem difficult.
Even so, the horizon awaits us, ready to be conquered.
The goal, sometimes, is drawn in blurred lines,
but with resolve and persistence, we shall reach it.
We will arrive with smiles and with tears
for the fellow travelers that time left behind.
Colombia
Laskiaf Amortegui
BIOGRAPHY: LASKIAF AMORTEGUI
Laskiaf Amortegui is a prominent Colombian poet, narrative writer, radio broadcaster, editor, and voice-over artist for poetry and book trailers. With a career that transcends borders, she is the co-author of several international anthologies and the author of the book “Alas del Alma: Los Milagros” (focused on energy leveling and healing), as well as the successful novel “La jaula de las mariposas”. This novel, which tells the story of five women and their environment, has positioned itself as one of the best-selling works in its genre on Amazon and was awarded the prestigious Honorary Diploma “Arina Gold – 2025” in Russia.
A winner of multiple international awards for voice, narrative, and poetic career, her writings have been translated and published worldwide. She represented Colombia as a jury member for the Asian Literary Contest and was honored as Poet of the Year 2025 by Sefrou Cultural Magazine and Snippets International Magazine (Morocco).
She is currently preparing the launch of her upcoming projects: the novel “Roja” and the poetry collection “Letras inconexas”.
Daniel G. Snethen grew up on a farm & ranch in south-central South Dakota. Here, he gained a great appreciation for all living things. Snethen holds an M.S. degree in Zoology and his B.A. in biological education. Dan has spent the past thirty years teaching science, coaching oral interpretation of literature and directing plays on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation at Little Wound School in Kyle, SD. Snethen directed the romantic comedy Mallard’s Road, which can be streamed on Tubi. Daniel writes poetry and short-story fiction. Among his pets, past and present, are kangaroo rats, desert wood rats, scorpions, rattlesnakes, ferrets, tarantulas, hawks and of course dogs. His favorite piece of literature is Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. Snethen has had many an odd encounter: including being sprayed by skunks, being stung by a scorpion and bitten by a pocket gopher. Daniel claims there should be no taboos when it comes to writing and the best writing comes from experience. Write what you know, even when writing fiction—infuse it with partial truths and the reader will be able to suspend disbelief. Snethen is the current vice-president of the South Dakota State Poetry Society and one of the former editors of their biannual poetry journal Pasque Petals.
Dubbed “The Baudelaire of our time” by John Shirley, primary screenwriter of THE CROW (1994), Alex S Johnson aka Kandy Fontaine has served as a secretary to the stars, collaborated with Tom Sullivan (New York Times bestselling author of IF YOU COULD SEE WHAT I HEAR), been platformed by R.U. Sirius (Mondo 2000 magazine featuring William S Burroughs), archived at The Widener Library (Harvard University) as well as being a Special Guest with Pickles (Alea Celeste Williams) on the Maggiore On Bowie Show. He has published under Nocturnicorn Books work by Caitlin R Kiernan, Kari Lee Krome, Poppy Z Brite, Jarboe, David J Haskins, Carmilla Voiez, Cristina Deptula, Anna Taborska and Lasara Firefox Allen and has read alongside icons such as Ellyn Maybe, Danielle Willis, Richard Modiano, K.R. Morrison, Marc Olmsted, Tricia Warden and Iris Berry. His hundreds of short stories, essays, poems, and articles have also garnered rave reviews from the likes of World Fantasy Award finalist Anna Tambour (“A poet even when writing prose”), Lambda Literary Award-winning author Jan Steckel (“a master of the pathetic fallacy”), and Hannah Breschard, cult author, journalist and David Bowie collaborator, who saluted him as “a legend.” Johnson runs Nocturnicorn Books from his home in Carmichael, California.
In the beginning you are a distant turquoise triangle incongruous against sand.
All around, some one has taken a straight edge across the sea and then folded up the sky to box in us homo saps.
Sentry trawlers crawl their stations along the cloudwall perimeter.
Closer in, thoughtless speedboats laugh across the waves, diesel waterbugs.
Skiers trudge behind, trying to play catch-up.
Birds pepper the sky..
And here and there bobbin heads pop up, as jellyfish nudists sprawl motionless tanning themselves along the surf.
A long-ago engineer built his clam dam to further contain this ocean, but now it is more breach than construct, debris among the former fish.
Mini Vesuvii dot the shoreline, cold openings to another, yet hidden, world.
Your neon triangle slowly sprouts bucket-crafted sandcastle appendages, as your shape begins delineation.
All along the beach, a patchwork of erratic crowd heaves. Can there really be a fractal that describes the geometry of herky-jerky humankind?
Tuxedoed canine trio scratches in harmony, sniffs for an 8 count, resumes its rhythmic bowing to metronome waves that gently assault bathers white, bathers red, bathers brown. Colors evolve like chameleons.
Children, even those with beards, sport in the mer. Mothers coddle eager sea urchins, while youths (and used-to-be youths too) ogle maidens who gleam and undulate in sunsparkle.
The clockwork dogs resume their symphony.
And then, of a sudden, your nippled battlements fully confront. I espy your sandy tourney field, your flying buttresses, your emblazoned portcullis smile. And marvel at the royal keep impossibly curtained behind that turquoise tapestry.
But my feet continue dutifully on their rounds: today they must lay down their permanent sign track, announcing to all posterity my once-existence. Ye seekers after truth and/or beauty.
Here indeed is the ever-changing unchanged, infinity in miniscule, eternal now, pastless while ancient, futuring into forever. This everybeach.
All cosmologies compress and store in islands of indelible sand. All philosophy unravels on this strand, expands beyond knowing. And is humbled proudly in the doing.
I finally achieve beach end and turn to survey my day’s work: my ozymandias footprints already ruins.
And yet, the entire cosmos kaleidoscopes behind me out from your turquoise neon triangle, like the promiscuous eye of God.
The strangest thing about Willem Dafoe’s career is not that he played Jesus Christ once. It’s that he played Jesus only once. A brief clerical malfunction in the casting universe, immediately corrected by returning him to his usual rotation of characters who look like they’ve been living on a steady diet of dust, nicotine, unresolved sexual tension and built up flatus.
Nothing from the Christ role appears to have adhered. No trace of grace. No residual compassion. Not even the faintest aftertaste of “love one another.”
When I asked him for an interview, the man who once overturned the moneychangers’ tables responded with the charm of a sun‑bleached parking citation:
“I charge.”
Three words. Dry as chalk. Delivered with the affect of someone who has spent his entire career speaking from the shadows of graffiti-scrawled industrial stairwells.
This would have been unremarkable if I hadn’t spent years in the company of people whose cultural mass makes Dafoe’s filmography look like a series of public‑service announcements about dehydration. Lemmy offered me cigarettes on his hotel bed. Katherine MacGregor, not an interview subject but a personal friend, took me to Amadeus in her Mercedes and explained the film with the precision of a woman who had outlived several artistic epochs. Caroline Munro had lunch with me in London. Gitane DeMone shared a meal; Tairrie B. Murphy gave me a squeezy hug after a long interview at a Hollywood Starbucks. Ellyn Maybe once talked with me on Zoom for nearly ten hours without implying that the meter was running. Tom Sullivan, Iris Berry, Ellyn Maybe, Pleasant Gehman, Militia Vox, Valor Kand, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Amélie Frank, John Shirley—all of them managed to speak without attaching a price tag to the act of being alive.
None of them ever said, “I charge.” They had no need to.
Dafoe’s line didn’t offend me; then again, I am neither innocent nor naive. Of course he isn’t Jesus. He’s an actor who essayed that role once. At the same time, it amplified an extraordinary reality…everything before and after fits neatly into a narrow emotional climate: dimly lit, vaguely threatening, and fundamentally transactional.
At some point, the absurdity staged itself. I imagined a biblical marketplace, the kind with dust that has given up on kinetic movement.
Dafoe‑Jesus emerges, robes hanging like fabric that has never known water, eyes carrying the same parched intensity he brings to every role that isn’t Christ. He approaches with the solemnity of a man about to deliver a parable, then leans in and mutters, “You want an interview? That’ll cost you.” Salvation as a side hustle.
He adjusts his crown of thorns with the same energy as a man straightening a hat he found in a gutter and begins explaining that miracles incur overhead, that loaves and fishes do not multiply themselves, that the Sermon on the Mount comes with a mount fee.
The disciples stand behind him like dehydrated stagehands—Peter attempting authority, Judas calculating percentages, Thomas deciding whether to doubt the whole thing or request documentation.
I mention Lemmy, Betty White, Katherine MacGregor, Caroline Munro, Gitane, Tairrie, Ellyn’s ten‑hour conversation, the thousands I’ve been paid for my work. He listens without absorbing anything, then shrugs with the resignation of someone who has never portrayed a character capable of hydration. “I’m not them,” he says. “I’m working here.”
He produces a battered invoice tablet from somewhere in his robe—an object that looks like it has survived several droughts—and begins itemizing a charge for “spiritual consultation.” After a long pause, he pockets it again and says, “Fine. This one’s on the house. Don’t tell the Pharisees.”
Then he disappears into the crowd, back into the role he never stops playing: a man who looks like he’s about to ask if you’re finished with that cigarette.
The only miracle he performed was waiving his own fee. Those two words were the only free performance I was ever going to get, and they conveyed everything necessary.
Joseph C Ogbonna is a prolific poet, a former high school teacher, and an amateur historian. Some of his works have been published by Synchronized Chaos, Spillwords Press, Micromance, PoetryXhunger, Waxpoetry Magazine, Ihram, Borderless, Orenuag Journal, North of Oxford, all your poems and stories magazines.
He also has two self-published volumes to his credit. His poems ‘Napoleon to Josephine and Josephine to Napoleon,’ were aired by the BBC Radio 3 to mark the bicentenary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Annotatsiya. Ushbu maqolada xorijiy tillarni o’qitishda kommunikativ yondashuvning nazariy asoslari, uning an’anaviy grammatika-tarjima usulidan farqlari va amaliy samaradorligi ko’rib chiqilgan. Tadqiqot natijalari kommunikativ yondashuv qo’llaniladigan o’quv muhitida o’quvchilarning og’zaki nutq ko’nikmalarini rivojlantirish ko’rsatkichlari sezilarli darajada yuqori ekanligi, real muloqot holatlari va kontekstli mashqlar talabalarning xorijiy tilda muloqot qilish qobiliyatini oshirishga katta hissa qo’shishini isbotlaydi. O’zbekiston umumta’lim maktablari va oliy ta’lim muassasalari uchun kommunikativ yondashuvni amaliyotda tatbiq etishga doir muayyan tavsiyalar berilgan.
Kalit soʻzlar: kommunikativ yondashuv, xorijiy til taʻlimi, ogʻzaki nutq koʻnikmasi, CLT metodi, interaktiv oʿrganish, til kompetentsiyasi, real muloqot holatlari, kommunikativ vakolat.
Аннотация. В данной статье рассматриваются теоретические основы коммуникативного подхода в обучении иностранным языкам, его отличия от традиционного грамматико-переводного метода и практическая эффективность. Результаты исследования показывают, что в учебной среде, где применяется коммуникативный подход, показатели развития навыков устной речи значительно выше, а реальные коммуникативные ситуации и контекстные упражнения вносят большой вклад в развитие способности общаться на иностранном языке. Даны конкретные рекомендации по практическому применению коммуникативного подхода в общеобразовательных школах и высших учебных заведениях Узбекистана.
Abstract. This article examines the theoretical foundations of the communicative approach in foreign language teaching, its differences from the traditional grammar-translation method, and its practical effectiveness. Research findings demonstrate that in learning environments where the communicative language teaching (CLT) method is applied, indicators of oral communication skill development are significantly higher, and real-life communicative situations and contextual exercises greatly contribute to learners’ ability to communicate in the target language. Specific recommendations for implementing the communicative approach in general secondary schools and higher education institutions of Uzbekistan are provided.
Key words: communicative approach, foreign language teaching, oral communication skills, CLT method, interactive learning, language competence, real communicative situations, communicative competence.
Introduction
In today’s era of globalization, learning foreign languages has become an essential factor for personal development, professional success, and international communication. For this reason, the question of organizing foreign language education more effectively and purposefully remains a constant focus of educators and linguists worldwide. Over recent decades, various methodological approaches have been employed in foreign language teaching: the grammar-translation method, the direct method, the audio-lingual method, and finally, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).
The communicative approach first began to take shape in Europe in the 1970s and soon became the leading methodology for foreign language teaching worldwide. Its foundation rests on the idea that learning a language means, first and foremost, acquiring the competence to communicate in real-life situations. That is, alongside correctly applying grammar and vocabulary knowledge, being able to express one’s ideas fluently, clearly, and purposefully through language is equally important.
Within the framework of Uzbekistan’s educational reforms of 2019–2023, the comprehensive renewal of foreign language education became a priority direction of state policy. Based on presidential decrees and corresponding resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers, the age at which English language instruction begins in schools was lowered, and the number of hours allocated to language teaching in higher education institutions was increased. However, practice shows that the traditional approach still predominates in terms of methodology, which presents a serious obstacle to developing students’ and pupils’ real communication skills.
The purpose of this article is to analyze the theoretical foundations of the communicative approach, compare it with traditional methods, demonstrate its effectiveness on the basis of empirical data, and develop practical recommendations for the Uzbekistan educational system.
Literature Review and Research Methodology
The concept of “communicative competence” introduced by Dell Hymes (1972) occupies a central place in the formation of communicative approach theory. Hymes envisioned not only grammatical knowledge but also the ability to use language in a socially appropriate and purposeful manner. This idea was subsequently developed scientifically by Sandra Savignon (1983), Michael Canale, and Merrill Swain (1980). Their research described communicative competence as a combination of grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic competencies.
David Nunan (1991) proposed his task-based communicative methodology, developing principles of language teaching based on real-life tasks (task-based language teaching). Jack Richards and Theodore Rodgers (2001) provided a comprehensive analysis of the core principles and practical application of the communicative approach.
Important work has also been carried out in this direction within Uzbek pedagogy. The studies of Mirzayev (2021), Toshpulatova (2022), and Xoliqova (2023) are dedicated to the possibilities and challenges of implementing the CLT method in Uzbekistan’s schools and higher education institutions. Their conclusions confirm the necessity of adapting the communicative approach to the national educational context.
The research methodology is based on methods of comparative analysis, observation, questionnaires, and the generalization of experimental teaching results. Observations conducted over 2022–2024 at several higher education institutions and general education schools in Uzbekistan were analyzed, along with interviews and questionnaire results obtained from more than 150 pupils/students and 30 teachers.
Analysis and Discussion of Results
Core Principles of the Communicative Approach
The communicative approach rests on several core principles. First and foremost, the goal in language teaching is not the memorization of grammatical structures but the development of real communicative ability. To this end, instead of artificial grammar exercises, situations approximating real-life contexts are created in the classroom: activities such as conversation, debate, problem-solving, and role-play are utilized.
The second principle concerns a new attitude toward errors. In traditional methods, making errors is evaluated negatively and corrected immediately, which generates in learners a fear of using the language. In the communicative approach, however, errors are accepted as a natural part of the learning process; the teacher does not stop to correct every error during oral communication but instead draws attention to general errors after the activity is complete. This approach increases the learner’s enthusiasm for expressing their own ideas freely.
The third principle is that communicative activity occupies a central role. Through pair and group work, simulations, projects, and interactive tasks, students actively use the language. The teacher, in turn, relinquishes the role of transmitter of knowledge and becomes a guide and support for the learning process.
Table 1
Comparative Analysis of Traditional and Communicative Approaches
Criterion
Traditional Approach
Communicative Approach
Teaching objective
Grammar and vocabulary knowledge
Real communicative competence
Lesson focus
Teacher
Learner
Attitude to errors
Corrected immediately
Part of the learning process
Activity type
Grammar exercises, translation
Role-play, communication, projects
Assessment
Written tests and grammar
Oral and written communication
Learner role
Passive listener
Active participant
Source: Compiled by the authors based on Richards and Rodgers (2001)
Empirical Research Results
The results of observations and experimental testing conducted at Namangan State Institute of Foreign Languages and a number of schools in Namangan region during 2022–2024 are presented below. The experimental group was taught using the communicative approach, while the control group used the traditional teaching method. The difference between the two groups at the end of one academic year was as follows:
Table 2
Comparison of Results: Communicative Approach vs. Traditional Teaching
Indicator
CLT Group (%)
Traditional Group (%)
Growth in oral communication skills
78%
42%
Listening competence
81%
55%
Active participation in class
87%
49%
Freedom to express thoughts in a foreign language
74%
38%
Written communication quality
69%
61%
Overall communicative competence
76%
47%
Source: Compiled by the authors based on observations conducted at Namangan State Institute of Foreign Languages and schools of Namangan region (2024)
As can be seen from the table, groups taught using the communicative approach showed an average of 36 percentage points higher results in oral communication skills. The difference is greatest in active class participation and freedom to express ideas — 38 and 36 percentage points, respectively. The difference in written communication skills is smaller — this is explained by the fact that the communicative approach places greater emphasis on oral communication.
Discussion
Strengths of the CLT Method
The most fundamental advantage of the communicative approach is that it transforms the learner from a passive recipient of knowledge into an active language user. While in a traditional lesson the teacher is the main actor, in a CLT lesson this role shifts to the students. Through group work, pair conversations, role-plays, and project assignments, learners practice not so much the drill of language structures as the purposeful use of the language.
According to questionnaire results, 83% of students in CLT groups indicated they enjoyed learning a foreign language, whereas in traditional groups this figure was only 51%. Such an increase in motivation leads to improved learning outcomes over the long term as well.
Researchers also note as another important advantage of the CLT method the integration of metalinguistic knowledge with practical skills. That is, the learner not only knows a grammatical rule but can also apply it appropriately in the process of communication. This is the foundation for achieving professional-level mastery of a foreign language.
Limitations and Challenges
At the same time, there are a number of challenges in the practical application of the communicative approach. First, it is difficult to apply the CLT method effectively in large groups (30 or more students), as it is challenging to distribute communication opportunities equally among all learners. Second, the examination and certification system is still oriented toward testing grammar and vocabulary knowledge, which forces teachers to abandon the communicative method and revert to a “teaching to the test” strategy.
Third, the CLT method demands a high level of pedagogical skill, creative thinking, and fluency in the foreign language from the teacher. In Uzbekistan, a considerable number of teachers are not yet ready to transition to this method, which highlights the importance of systematic methodological retraining.
In addition, the differences between the structures of the native language and the foreign language can also create difficulties. Uzbek is an agglutinative language and differs typologically from English or French. For this reason, during communicative exercises, learners tend to speak the foreign language while thinking in their native language. To overcome this problem, it is recommended that elements of contrastive analysis be incorporated into CLT lessons.
Opportunities and Recommendations for Uzbekistan
The communicative approach opens broad opportunities for the development of foreign language education in Uzbekistan. The “Concept for the Development of Foreign Language Education” adopted in 2023 stipulates an emphasis on communicative competence in educational programs. This policy document creates a favorable basis for formally establishing the CLT method.
At the same time, a number of concrete measures are necessary in practice to move from concept to implementation. First, textbooks and teaching materials must be revised on the basis of communicative principles: in many current textbooks, grammar and translation exercises still predominate. Second, audio-visual tools, role-based tasks, and project methods should be applied more actively in classroom sessions.
Third, it is necessary to develop the system for retraining teachers. By organizing regular professional development courses, workshops, and seminars on CLT, teachers should be given the opportunity to master the new methodology. Establishing methodological centers at institutions to share CLT experience and disseminate successful lesson models could also be highly effective.
Conclusion and Recommendations
This research confirms the effectiveness of the communicative approach in foreign language teaching on the basis of empirical data. In study groups where the CLT method was applied, indicators of oral communication skills, active class participation, and communicative competence were significantly higher than in groups using traditional methods.
The principal strength of the communicative approach is that it transforms the learner from someone who merely knows the grammar of a language into a person capable of genuine communication. In today’s globalized world, this is an extraordinarily important factor for career choices, international cooperation, and personal growth.
Based on the research findings, the following recommendations are offered. First, it is necessary to introduce regular professional development courses on CLT methodology for foreign language teachers. Second, textbooks and methodological guides should be updated on the basis of communicative principles. Third, it is recommended that the examination system transition to a format oriented toward assessing oral communication. Fourth, a communicative learning environment should be created for schools and higher education institutions — classrooms equipped with audio-video technology and electronic resources containing authentic communicative materials. Fifth, scientific and practical research on adapting the CLT method to the national educational system, taking into account Uzbekistan’s distinctive linguistic and cultural context, should be continued.
References
1. Hymes, D. (1972). On Communicative Competence. In J. Pride & J. Holmes (Eds.), Sociolinguistics. Harmondsworth: Penguin. pp. 299–311.
2. Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing. Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 1–47.
3. Savignon, S. J. (1983). Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice. Addison-Wesley.
4. Nunan, D. (1991). Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom. Cambridge University Press.
5. Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
6. Littlewood, W. (2011). Communicative Language Teaching: An Expanding Concept for a Changing World. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning. Routledge.
7. Mirzayev, A. (2021). Implementing the Communicative Approach in Uzbekistan Schools: Challenges and Opportunities. Uzbek Language and Literature, 4(2), 112–125.
8. Toshpulatova, N. (2022). The Role of the CLT Method in Higher Education: The Experience of Namangan Region. Foreign Philology, 3(1), 78–89.
9. Xoliqova, D. (2023). Communicative Competence and Ways of Developing It. Pedagogical Mastery, 5(3), 44–56.
10. Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PF-4947. (2020). On Measures to Further Improve the System of Foreign Language Learning. Tashkent.
